1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of measuring and testing and more particularly to a radar cross-section test body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are two applications for this invention. One is as a test body to examine the measurement performance of a microwave anechoic chamber and the other is to support components so that their radar cross-section can be measured.
A microwave anechoic chamber should have the capability to measure the scattered fields from an object over a very large dynamic range, especially for very low fields. The chamber should be evaluated before any measurements can be trusted. In the past, a spherical test body has been used, which has good bistatic scattering characteristics, but the return is very large. Hence, some other means is required to test the performance for low level signals. Another canonical shape, the ogive, has a very low backscattered return for very near axial incidence. However, another canonical shape is desired that has a very low return over a very broad angular region, to truly verify the performance of the chamber. The almond test body has the desirable characteristic of producing a large dynamic scattered field over large angular regions.
To be useful as a component mount, a test body should exhibit a low return so that it does not perturb the measurement of the component, and the test body should simulate the backscatter characteristics of the component as if over an infinite ground plane.